Our group has successfully defended the City of Tacoma against a $6 billion lawsuit by the Skokomish Indian Tribe for alleged damages to fish and wildlife arising out of the construction of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in the 1920s. We argued that the project was properly licensed, constructed and operated under federal law and, therefore, did not violate any treaty obligations to the tribe. We also argued that there was no legal basis for the Tribe to bring a claim against Tacoma. The United States District Court granted Tacoma's summary judgment in August 2001, dismissing the tribe's claims. The case was argued before the Ninth Circuit in January 2003, and the court sustained the District Court’s ruling in May 2003. The Ninth Circuit granted en banc review of the case (a panel of 11 circuit court judges, rather than the usual three), and the en banc panel also upheld summary judgment in Tacoma's favor (410 F. 3d 506 (9th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 1025 (2006)).